This work focuses on the analysis of the conception of fear in the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The main part of the text deals with the issues that can be considered crucial when speaking about fear depicted in Poe's and Lovecraft's work. The issues are mutually interrelated and they are interconnected with the depiction of fear. Together, they show the similarities and differences between Poe's and Lovecraft's conception of fear. This thesis engages only in the horror stories written by Poe and Lovecraft, which means that the analysis of their short stories belonging to other genres (satire, fantasy, etc.) is not provided.